No matter which position you play in hockey, winning the one-on-one battles is one of the most important individual contributions you can make for your team. To win those battles, you need to be able to read the play around you and, more importantly, be physically strong on your skates.
Physical strength on your skates is very important for winning face-offs, positioning yourself in front of your opponents net, controlling the puck along the boards or in close proximity to a defender, and defending your crease (this is true for both goaltenders and defensemen). Muscular strength also protects you from injury and will help you heal quicker if you do get injured. Strong legs are important for powerful skating strides, starting, turning and stopping. In addition, leg strength contributes to a potent slap shot. Building strong leg muscles also lowers your center of gravity, assisting your balance and stability, thereby making it easier to battle past an opponent to get toward the net.
Muscular strength is your ability to exert maximal force (using maximum or near maximum resistance) during limited repetitions. When focusing on strength improvements, you are generally working to increase your power and muscle mass. Muscular endurance is your ability to exert sub-maxima (using less than maximum resistance) during repeated repetitions. When focusing on endurance improvements, you are generally working to increase your muscle's ability to work over a period of time. Both stength and endurance in leg muscles are critically important for maximizing ice skating performance while playing hockey.
Exercise apparatus which simulate walking, running and stair climbing are well known. Running and walking exercise apparatus typically comprise an inclined moving belt or treadmill upon which the user walks or runs. Stair climbing or stepping apparatus typically include a pair of hinged pedals upon which a user stands, and in which the pedals are moved up and down by the user shifting his or her weight to simulate stair climbing movement. While conventional exercise apparatus achieve the exercise and movement of the biceps femoris muscle, they are poorly suited to provide toning and exercise the remaining leg muscles used in ice skating, such as abductors and adductor muscles, the gastrocnemius muscle, the soleusmuscle the gracilis muscle and/or the sartorius muscle.
Prior art efforts to provide devices adapted to training ice skaters have included the following:
Schutzer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,214 describes a training apparatus for skaters consisting of a fixed training stand with two carriages transversely displaceable in opposite directions, the displacement of which is controlled. Each carriage has a platform for the attachment of one of the skater's feet, said platform altering its angle of inclination upon displacement of the associated carriage from the initial position in the same way as a skate when cutting the ice. The lateral displacement of each carriage occurs against the action of a force which is adjustable.
McCormack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,372 describes an ice-skating leg exercise device utilizing in one embodiment a pair of rotatably positionable tracks each having a stirrup movable back and forth thereon in which the user's legs are positioned, each track being angularly adjustable with adjustable weight resistance provided against the rearward movement of each stirrup and a body support for the user to rest there against while exercising his legs on the device.
Colombo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,496 describes a piece of equipment for the simulation of skiing movements which comprises a basic structure which can be stably placed on the ground. An arm is hinged to the basic structure in a median position and is able to oscillate horizontally. The arm carries a pair of boards at its end. Feet are connected to the structure to incline it with respect to the ground. The arm is able to carry out a slight vertical oscillation. The boards are restrained to the arm so that they can rotate around their vertical and horizontal axes, the rotation around the vertical axis being limited by suitable means. Two rods overhang and are connected to the arm by pins. The rods are able to rotate around the vertical axis of these pins, such rotation being made synchronous with that of the boards. The rotation is opposite to the direction of oscillation of the arm. The piece of equipment is also equipped with an electrical detection circuit which detects correct or incorrect movements carried out by the user who, by placing his or her feet on the boards and gripping the rods, gives an oscillating movement to the arm with the help of elastic devices which absorb and give back the kinetic energy produced, thus carrying out the movements required by skiing techniques.
Walker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,373 describes a power skating exercise device includes a pair of endless guide tracks, each of which have a power section and a return section and a pedal for each guide track. The pedal is mounted on a follower which is slidably mounted in one of the guide tracks. The follower is proportioned to pass freely along the return section. Drag is applied to the follower as it is driven along the drive section to resist the movement of the follower. A support frame is provided for supporting the user in a forwardly inclined semi-prone position which corresponds to the position assumed by a skater when accelerating forwardly.
Miller et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,460 describes an apparatus and method for skate training exercise comprising arms of relatively long length pivotally mounted on a frame. The user's foot is secured in a stirrup on the arm opposite the pivot point. A resistance means is provided to provide resistance as the user pushes his foot away from the body along an arcuate path defined by the arm in simulated skating stroke. A return means is provided to assist the user in returning his foot along the arcuate path after predetermined angle is traversed. Various resistant means include electromagnetic, fly wheel-fan and weight stack.
Gordon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,264 describes an aerobic exercise device which provides for a smooth, natural, orbital continuous motion of the user's feet. This device can be used for walking, running, jogging or stair-stepping exercises. Upper body workout devices can be provided with the aerobic exercise device such that a total body workout can be had. The device includes two parallel tracks with platforms. The platforms reciprocate along the tracks. A device is provided in each track for returning the platforms to the home position. As a user operates the device, he or she will push the platforms rearwardly. When the user's foot reaches the end of his or her stride, the user can then lift their foot in a natural motion. The device will return the platform to the home position. As the platform is returning to the home position, it will first travel in a forward direction and then switch to a rearward direction. This rearward movement will enable comfortable planting of the user's foot as it reengages the platform. The device can be easily accommodated to any desired workout level or to many different sized users.
Green et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,130 describes an exercise apparatus used for leg exercises, and particularly for exercising the muscles used in ice skating. The apparatus has a frame with two four bar linkages arranged side by side. Each linkage carries a foot pad. A resistance unit is attached to each linkage to resist movement of the linkage in both directions. The resistance unit is preferably a double acting hydraulic cylinder connected to variable flow control valves to vary the resistance to linkage movement.
Harrigan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,194 describes a roller skate exercise device which consists of a platform having a top surface to support a pair of roller skates worn by a person. Components are for permitting the roller skates to slide in opposed reciprocating motions on the top surface of the platform, so as to simulate cross country skiing.
Little, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,598 describes a combination leg exercise device, including: a base member; two, elongate, parallel plates attached to rotating apparatus mounted on the base member; and support apparatus disposed at distal ends of the plates to accommodate thereon selected weights; such that a person standing on the plates, with a foot disposed over each of the rotating apparatus, moves the weights between a first, lowered position and a second, elevated position by alternatingly flexing and relaxing muscles in the person's lower legs; the device further including: two track assemblies extending horizontally from the base member; and the track assemblies including thereon two wheeled platforms; such that a person standing with a foot on each of the platforms, slides the platforms back and forth along the track assemblies by alternatingly flexing and relaxing inner and outer muscles in the person's upper legs.
Alvarez et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,995 describes an exercise machine that simulates the movements made during snow skiing and has a pair of foot support arms mounted for limited rotational movement about separate axes of rotation so that foot support portions of the foot support arms move simultaneously both vertically and horizontally, coordinates simultaneous movement of both foot support arms through a gear train coupling the foot support arms. In addition, foot support treads which support the feet of a user of the machine are resiliently mounted to the foot support arms to allow angling of the foot support treads to simulate a feeling of edging of skis.
Miller et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,658 describes an apparatus and method for skate training exercise comprising arms of relatively long length pivotally mounted on a frame. The user's foot is secured in a stirrup on the arm opposite the pivot point. A resistance means is provided to provide resistance as the user pushes his foot away from the body along an arcuate path defined by the arm in simulated skating stroke. A return means is provided to assist the user in returning his foot along the arcuate path after predetermined angle is traversed. Various resistant means include electromagnetic, fly wheel-fan and weight stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,935 to Chu describes a skating exercise machine which is adapted to simulate skating movement by the use of a pair of cantilevered supports geared so as to move in an arcuate plane. The exercise apparatus of both Chu and Miller above ('658), however, suffer the disadvantage in that in their operation, the user's feet are maintained in a generally forward oriented position while moving about a lateral horizontal arc. In contrast, in roller blading or ice skating, an individual typically performs a skating stride whereby the position of each foot during each stride moves so as to turn outwardly, to provide an increased thrust force.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,180 relates to an apparatus includes a frame having left and right pedal guides, left and right pedals moveably coupled to the left and right pedal guides, and a pedal control device. The pedal control device is coupled to the left and right pedals such that as one of the left or right pedals is moved along its pedal guide, the other pedal is moved in an opposite direction along its pedal guide, and both the left and right pedals rotate in a first rotational direction. As the pedals are moved back along their respective pedal guides in opposite directions, the pedal control device simultaneously rotates the pedals in a second rotational direction.
Lastly, U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2002/0042329 to Nizamuddin describes an exercise apparatus used to simulate skating or roller blading movement in a user includes a pair of sleds or shuttles which include a pedal adapted to support the foot of a user standing thereon. The shuttles are movable along a respective guide assembly consisting of one or more rails which curve away from each other extending from proximate forwardmost ends, outwardly and rearwardly. However, the rail assemblies are provided in a substantially mirror arrangement and curve downwardly from their respective forwardmost ends to a lowermost distal portion.
To summarize, current, conventional skate training devices suffer the disadvantage in that they are poorly suited to mimic, train and condition muscles used by skaters in the true leg motions necessary for enhanced skating performance. In particular, as prior art skating devices are adapted to provide lateral movement substantially in a downward or horizontal plane, conventional skating exercise apparatus fail to account for the change in leg and foot position experienced by a skater during the forward curvature motion of each leg. Furthermore, conventional skating exercise devices which operate to move the user's leg only in a downward plane as the user's leg moves outwardly, may result in the exercise of muscles groups not actually involved in the skating motion.
Thus, in general, the prior art teaches physical training machines for a limited range of muscle development. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach a simple training machine capable of reproducing true ice skating motions. Consequently, there is a significant need for the development of an ice skating training apparatus which simultes or replicates the true motion of skating, while also providing strength and endurance training for all leg muscles involved in ice skating.